


Halloweentown Official's Blessing

by BeneaththeBrim



Category: Halloweentown (1998), 天官赐福 - 墨香铜臭 | Tiān Guān Cì Fú - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Genre: And HC is... drumroll... Gort., BY is Marnie, But horrifyingly cute, Crack Treated Seriously, Fluff and Crack, Fluff and Humor, JW is Kalabar ofc, M/M, PS is Luke, The Halloweentown au absolutely no one asked for, This au is highkey stupid, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, XL is Grandma Aggie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-13 16:47:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21178214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeneaththeBrim/pseuds/BeneaththeBrim
Summary: “Granduncle Hua, what do you think Xie Lian is up to now?”Xie Lian feigned a contemplative look. “Oh, who knows? Probably trying to figure out how to enter the world wide web or work a VHS machine or one of those other newfangled things…”“Huh. WellIthink he’s still out there, using his powers to help orphans!”Xie Lian sniffed, then ruffled Ban Yue’s hair and pinched her cheek. “If you say so, Ban Yue. But remember, it is just a story. Xie Lian isn’t real, and neither is Halloweentown.” He clapped his hands together. “Okay! Time to go to bed! Granduncle Hua’s gonna go do some scrap collecting, alright?”(Only, before Xie Lian can go scrap collecting, he's called on an important mission to Halloweentown, and, instead of going to sleep, Ban Yue follows him for the adventure of her life!)





	1. Granduncle Hua's bedtime story

**Author's Note:**

  * For [@8yukiame](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=%408yukiame).

> My first G-rated fic! 😅 We'll see how this goes...
> 
> This fic is a gift to [@8yukiame](https://twitter.com/8yukiame) on twitter, who makes lovely art and whose p4p stickers are now displayed proudly on my laptop ^.^

“Granduncle, Granduncle Hua, please tell the story about Halloweentown again!” Ban Yue smiled brightly at her caretaker.

Xie Lian sniffed, then ruffled little Ban Yue’s hair. They were slouching in a lean-to below a highway ramp, sheltered from the rain that poured down from above, where cars buzzed by in a whirring, ambient thrum. Not the best night for trick-or-treating. Not that it made a difference to Ban Yue, who had no home of her own, let alone one in a well-to-do neighborhood where every other house gave out fully size candy bars. No, all Ban Yue had to fill her belly tonight was some overboiled congee that Xie Lian made over a fire, no extra ingredients at his disposal to render the rice inedible-

-Which didn’t stop Ban Yue from throwing random newts, frogs, and mushrooms she gathered into the pot. She truly was a witch at heart, Xie Lian thought, frowning. And tonight was her thirteenth Halloween, her last chance to come into her powers before they wallowed away into nothing.

Xie Lian exhaled. “Okay, Ban Yue. But only because tonight is a very special night.” He tucked her into the ragged blanket just long enough to cover her wispy form. She shot a cute, dimpled smile up at him as he began the story in its usual way:

“Once upon a time, there was a world separated off from this one where all sorts of kooky monsters and spooky witches cavorted about, and this world was called ‘Halloweentown’. In that world, it’s always autumn and there are always leaves falling and making the whole place red and gold and brown and cool and crisp. It’s a place that smells eternally of hot apple cider- But while it’s a very nice place, you do have to make sure to bundle up so you don’t catch a cold- You don’t want to know how it feels when a ghost passes through you and you haven’t got anything to keep you warm!” Xie Lian wrapped his arms around his body and made a shivering motion for emphasis.

Ban Yue shook her head, snuggling into her blanket. Although she was thirteen years old, she liked to pretend she was younger at times like this- Granduncle Hua was the sort of person who couldn’t really tell any children apart when it came to age, and if she acted younger, he’d spoil her a bit more. 

Xie Lian continued, “And, right smack dab in the middle of Halloweentown is a big ol’ jack-o-lantern called the Grand Martial Pumpkin, and right across from the pumpkin is- Now, Ban Yue, do you know who lives across from the pumpkin?” Xie Lian booped her nose.

She beamed, and shouted excitedly, “The mayor Jun Wu lives across from the Grand Martial Pumpkin!”

“That’s right! And he’s the one who, back in the day, separated Halloweentown from the mortal world.”

Ban Yue widened her eyes. “But Granduncle Hua, why did he do that? Halloweentown sounds like such a nice place!”

Xie Lian pursed his lips. “Well, he did it because mortals weren’t very nice to the citizens of Halloweentown before it was separate from earth. There was a big war, and in the middle of the fighting, the warlock Jun Wu finally brought it to a stop by cracking a fissure in reality, separating the realms forever.”

“Oh…” Ban Yue murmured. “So no one can ever visit Halloweentown?”

“Well, it’s said that there is a bus connecting the realms, but it only runs on Halloween night.” Xie Lian coughed. “But, of course it’s just a story. There’s not really such a thing as Halloweentown…”

“But Granduncle you said-!”

“Hush, Ban Yue. Hmm, I think it’s bedtime now.”

“But you barely even started the story…” She scowled.

Xie Lian exhaled, running his hands through the long hair on his crown. “Okay okay, which Halloweentown story would you like to hear?”

Ban Yue scrunched her face up, thinking. “Oh! How about the one with the brave warlock saving the halfling child!”

Xie Lian ruffled her hair. “Okay. Once, a looooong time ago, in Halloweentown, there was a certain neighborhood called Xian Le, and a warlock named Xie Lian who was appointed by mayor Jun Wu to take care of that neighborhood. But Xie Lian made a big mistake. You see, he was always very curious about the mortal folk here on earth, and he would always try to think up ways to help them with his magic. And then one day, Xie Lian made a steaming brew in his kitchen cauldron. Now you should know, when he first made this potion, he was really only planning on making some soup, but it turned out he got a little too creative with the ingredients…”

“Just like Granduncle Hua!”

Xie Lian wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. “Yeh. Like Granduncle Hua… Anyways, this Xie Lian, while he didn’t quite make soup, he managed to make a portal between Halloweentown and the mortal realm! One that worked even when it wasn’t Halloween! And, when he looked through the cauldron to the mortal realm, he saw a small child falling down from a big building. Well, Xie Lian couldn’t just stand by and do nothing, so he flew right through that cauldron on a broom and caught the child with his trusty handbag Ruoye-”

“Just like your handbag, Granduncle!”

“Ahh, no no Ban Yue. My handbag’s just a normal handbag.” Xie Lian patted the purse at his side, which, if one looked close enough, seemed to nudge closer to him and purr.

“Nuh-uh! I’ve heard you call your handbag Ruoye plenty of times when you thought I wasn’t looking, and I’ve seen it move on it’s own and-”

Xie Lian shook his head. “No no, okay, maybe I’ve named my handbag Ruoye, but it’s only because of the story. I named it after the story’s Ruoye, like how people name their cats things like ‘Kitteney Spears’ or ‘Catstreet Boy’. And as for moving on its own, it’s, ah…”

Ban Yue shot him a skeptical look.

“Remote-controlled! Yes, yes, that’s what you kids call it nowadays…”

“Granduncle Hua, how old are you?”

Xie Lian patted her on the head. “Ban Yue, you know that’s not a nice question to ask people who are older than you. Now, do you want to hear more of the story?”

“Yes!”

“Right. So, Xie Lian saved this boy who was falling from a building, and to his surprise, the boy had one red eye, pointed ears, and fangs, just like one of the creatures from Halloweentown! So, he asked the boy if there were other people like him in the mortal realm who had maybe gotten lost there, but the boy only shook his head. Turns out, even though he was born from two mortal parents, he was still half-creature, and he was very badly bullied by the other humans, even thrown out of his house!”

Ban Yue looked a little sad at that. Her parents were gone, but she still remembered them, and she couldn’t imagine parents who would willingly put their children out on the cold streets.

“So, I-uhhhh, I mean, Xie Lian! He took that boy back to Halloweentown to take care of him. However, he wasn’t even treated nicely in Halloweentown--everyone said he was bad luck, but Xie Lian wouldn’t listen, and wouldn’t let go. And he never did tell anyone about that cauldron he used to go to the mortal realm. No, he kept making visits and helping out orphaned mortals and helping them with his magic.”

“Mmm, we’re getting to the bad part, aren’t we?”

“Mhmm. Well, something started happening in the Xian Le neighborhood- people started acting all mean and weird, and suddenly something else started happening-” He lowered his voice to a whisper. _“The human face plague.”_

Ban Yue’s eyes were wide.

“People in the Xian Le neighborhood began growing faces on their bodies, and not the good kinds of faces!. These faces were mean and nasty and did nothing but shriek all day and night. Xie Lian and the little boy, whose name, by the way, was San Lang, they searched and investigated for the cause, and eventually learned that the one behind the plague was an evil ghost warlock named Bai Wuxiang!”

Ban Yue gasped.

“Now, Bai Wuxiang’s origins were mysterious until the end, but it was rumored that he came from a demonic otherworld called Mount Tonglu, where the worst, nastiest, meannest demons are born. And, worst of all, Xie Lian fell into a trap Bai Wuxiang set, and he was tricked into releasing the plague out into the world through his cauldron! In the end, San Lang was able to stop the plague from spreading, but at the cost of his life.” Xie Lian closed his eyes and took a solemn breath before continuing. “Just in the nick of time, Jun Wu was able to defeat Bai Wuxiang, but as punishment for almost letting the curse escape to the mortal realm, and for opening that portal in the cauldron in the first place, he exiled Xie Lian to wander the mortal realm and think about what he had done. The End.”

“But Granduncle Hua, that’s so sad. What do you think Xie Lian is up to now?”

Xie Lian feigned a contemplative look. “Oh, who knows? Probably trying to figure out how to enter the world wide web or work a VHS machine or one of those other newfangled things…”

“Huh. Well _I_ think he’s still out there, using his powers to help orphans!”

Xie Lian sniffed, then ruffled Ban Yue’s hair and pinched her cheek. “If you say so, Ban Yue. But remember, it is just a story. Xie Lian isn’t real, and neither is Halloweentown.” He clapped his hands together. “Okay! Time to go to bed! Granduncle Hua’s gonna go do some scrap collecting, alright?”

Ban Yue twitched her lip, but decided to behave and make like she was sleeping.

Xie Lian tied his hair up into a bun, put on his pointy black hat, and then departed, charming the area where Ban Yue slept so no one could intrude and hurt her in his absence. Leisurely, he made his way to a secluded alley to begin his dumpster diving. Maybe this time he’d find some more unmatched socks- whenever people lost one side, they’d always throw out the other, even if it was still perfectly good. Ban Yue was growing up quickly, and she often needed new socks.

Xie Lian had just begun psyching himself up for his scrap-collecting outing when all of a sudden, Ruoye, which had been following dutifully behind him, began to hurry up and nudge him like a dog trying to get his attention.

“What’s up, boy?” Xie Lian cocked his head and raised an eyebrow at the handbag, which continued to butt against his ankles.

“Okay, okay, I’ll hold you.” Xie Lian picked Ruoye up and petted the handbag, only to hear a muffled voice within. “Huh?” Xie Lian opened Ruoye up and rummaged around, seeking out the voice. In the end, he had to stretch his arm out all the way to the bottom of the handbag- no trivial task, given Ruoye’s considerable internal geometry. At last, he pulled out something he hadn’t used in centuries: It was a cobalt blue, metallic shrunken head with a single highlighter-colored ponytail-

-His head phone!

And that head phone was now speaking to him. It said:

“Xie Lian, copy, Xie Lian. Are you there?”

Xie Lian stared at it for a good half-minute before answering.

“...Ah, yes? Ling Wen, is that you? What is it?”

“Ah, good. Yes, it’s Ling Wen here. You’re needed in Halloweentown. Please do take the next bus between realms.”

Xie Lian gaped into the distance, to a rain-pattered road where a bus stop had suddenly materialized. “Ah. Okay.”

His voice traveled through the aether, and on the other end, Ling Wen put down her own head phone and rearranged some pearl head pins on her comically red and strawberry-shaped cushioned skirt. Behind her head, a silver butterfly flapped secretively, then disappeared into the air. A low voice came from the other room:

“He’s coming?”

“Yes, my lord,” Ling Wen replied.

Jun Wu smiled. “Good.”

Back in the mortal realm, Xie Lian pondered his situation. _So something was up in Halloweentown…_ Hopefully nothing that would take him too long--after all, he couldn’t just abandon Ban Yue…

Xie Lian exhaled, then approached the bus stop, shuffling his feet. After a couple minutes, someone else walked up next to him: a young man, by all appearances human, who was carrying a typical pumpkin-shaped trick-or-treat basket. A little nervous about returning after all these years, Xie Lian smiled to him and attempted to make small talk:

“Did you get some nice candy from the mortal realm?”

The kid glowered up at him, squawking, “Buzz off, old man!”

Xie Lian looked away, embarrassed. Fortunately, the butternut-colored bus came soon after, and he got on. Sitting down and getting weird looks from the bus’ other passengers, Xie Lian realized how awkward it would be when they finally got to their destination and he had to start interacting with people who knew him back them. So, as a precautionary measure, Xie Lian took off his pointed black witch’s hat and stuffed it back in Ruoye. He then searched around in the handbag and fished out a semi-transparent red cloth, which he proceeded to drape over his head so as to obscure his face.

_There_, he thought. _Now no one will recognize me._

At last, the bus finished its journey between realms, and Xie Lian stepped off. People pushed past him as he gained his bearings, remembering once again the perpetually dry, crisp, and clove-smelling air. An apple fell from a tree nearby as the bus drove off, and Xie Lian glanced toward the sound. To his surprise, there was a figure there, tall, dressed all in red and extending a pale hand. It was an exceptionally well-formed hand, and on its middle finger was a red string tied neatly into a butterfly knot.

Under the impression that this was an emissary sent from Ling Wen’s office, and, feeling confident enough in his own abilities, Xie Lian took that hand without hesitation and allowed the other person to lead him swiftly down the streets. Xie Lian looked down, seeing that he was wearing leather boots with dangling chains that jingled as they walked. Along the way, the other man whispered softly to him:

“Gege, I’m so glad you’re back. Something very bad is happening in Halloweentown, and I need your help to stop it.”

Xie Lian listened intently, not raising his veil. Something twinged in him at being addressed ‘gege’, a memory of deep heartache and guilt. Xie Lian remembered his San Lang, the boy he had failed to save when it really mattered. At the same time, Xie Lian felt another feeling quite unlike anything he had felt before, hearing the sound of the man’s voice- although just a whisper, it was a low, enticing baritone, ever so husky, yet gentle. Xie Lian wondered how it might feel to have that voice whispering just a little closer to his ear. All the while, the figure next to him continued,

“Certain people have gone missing, and some have been… acting not like themselves. It’s almost like the stories of back before your exile-”

The man’s voice grew quieter. “-It’s almost like the beginnings of the human face plague. There have been rumors, gege… That Bai Wuxiang has returned…”

Xie Lian’s eyes grew wide. He was just about to look through the veil to get a better look at the tall man when a voice rang out behind them.

“Granduncle Hua!”

Both men turned around, startled. Apparently it was too much for the man leading Xie Lian, for as soon as Xie Lian raised his veil and glanced toward him, he had burst into a shimmering cloud of butterflies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No idea how the update schedule will work for this fic; my main goal is to have it all finished and posted by Nov 1, but we'll see how that works...


	2. The main square, and a mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think the way the updates will work is as soon as I finish drafting a chapter I'll post the one before it, just so things match up a little. But, if you see a plot hole, just use your imagination and patch it up with some good ol' Disney magic! 😅

Xie Lian blinked and shook his head, bewildered by the turn of events. Ban Yue broke him out of his trance.

“You were lying, Granduncle Hua! Halloweentown really is real!”

Xie Lian gaped at her. “Young lady! How did you get here?!”

Ban Yue smiled cheekily. “I snuck onto the bus. You remember that guy standing next to you? I hid in his basket!”

Xie Lian crossed him arms and frowned. “And how did you fit in there?!”

Ban Yue shrugged. “Well, it’s just like you said before, when you were describing magic- ‘You just have to want something, and then let yourself have it!’ Well, I _wanted_ to follow you in secret, and saw that guy going to the same bus stop as you. And then I wanted to sneak into his basket, and so I just let myself do it!” She beamed up at him. “And now I’m here! _...Xie Lian.”_

Xie Lian huffed, then exhaled, shaking his head. “Well, Ban Yue, since you’re here, I may as well show you around. But don’t go jumping into strangers’ baskets anymore! It’s dangerous, not to mention rude. I’ll have you know that some people around here have pumpkins like that for heads--you don’t want to go rattling around someone’s brain, now do you?”

Ban Yue pouted, looking to the ground. “I guess not…”

Seeing how pitiful she looked, Xie Lian ruffled her hair. “It’s no big deal. Let’s go back to the main square.” He looked around, gauging his surroundings. “Right now it looks like we’re in the Ghost City neighborhood, what with all the red lanterns. So, that means the main square is this way.” He pointed down one side of the street, then sighed, dragging a hand through his hair. “Maybe we’ll meet some old friends along the way…”

Not that Xie Lian really relished seeing old friends, but at this point, it seemed somewhat inevitable. The pair walked back along narrow, winding streets lit by red lanterns, then slowly made their way back to the square, where bards were playing festival music and all sorts of eccentrically-dressed folk bustled about. The music that was playing- it was like everything that every Halloween soundtrack in the mortal realm attempted, but _real_. This, this was the _true_ monster mash. And it really did smell like hot apple cider, just like Granduncle Hua promised!

Ban Yue marveled at the spectacle, taking it all in. Her eyes roved about the square: indeed, right in the center was a giant jack-o-lantern- well, that had to be the Grand Martial Pumpkin! And across from it, just like in the stories, was the mayor’s office. And across from it, on the other side, oh how spooky! It was a movie theater with spiderwebs bedecking the facade; all its display said was ‘Mount Tonglu Cinema, Closed except once every hundred years!” Ban Yue wondered idly what movie it might show when it did open, and whether she’d have a chance to see it, but then her gaze snagged onto a pair of women walking by. One of the women was a light-footed, rambunctious, and stylishly dressed werewolf, while the other, a vampire, was more quiet and reserved, but regal-looking all the same. They were just exiting a hair parlor, and looked the part- the werewolf wore an elaborate bouffant with bouncing curls, while the vampire's hair was bone-straight and fell over the train of her obsidian-black figure-clinging dress, interrupted only by a pair of bat wings.

The werewolf was gabbing loudly to her companion. "Oh, Ming-jie, you'll sit next to me tonight at the great Halloween feast, won't you?"

The vampire kept her eyes to the ground. "Will your brother be there?"

The werewolf hugged her friend close. "Of course he will, Ming-jie! Why wouldn't he? After all, he'll probably get second in the lantern battle, after the mayor, and we've got to be right there to congratulate him when it happens!" She fanned herself, ringlets bouncing in the breeze.

The vampire frowned, a cold look on her face, though her smiling companion couldn't see it as she squished into her. Eventually, they were out of earshot, and Xie Lian and Ban Yue scavenged behind a food stall- they were all very interesting here- one was a chicken soup stall with a ‘cock-a-doodle-doo!’-ing rooster bathing itself in broth; another was staffed by a man with a pig’s head, who was chopping up stuff that Ban Yue definitely didn’t want to eat, no matter how hungry she was; a third stall, which seemed relatively safe, sold apple cider donuts. Discreetly, Ban Yue scooped up a couple malformed ones that had been binned. She gave one to Xie Lian, who took a few bites from it then tucked the rest in his sleeve, saving it for later.

Munching on her donut, Ban Yue looked around some more, only to find that Xie Lian had begun nonchalantly but strategically ducking around her, as though not wanting to be seen by someone. Curious, Ban Yue looked in the direction Xie Lian was trying to avoid.

In that direction, Ban Yue saw a big two-headed ogre in a heated argument with itself. Swallowing the last of her donut, she whispered to Xie Lian, “Granduncle Hua, who’s that? You’re usually so thick-faced, so why are you hiding? They don’t have face disease, do they?”

Behind her, Xie Lian shook his head. “Oh, no, they didn’t get infected; Feng Xin and Mu Qing are naturally two-headed. But they were my very best friends back in the day, and we had a falling out… It’s really not worth talking about, Ban Yue, let’s just be on our way…”

Ban Yue took one last look at the ogre, which was now on the verge of punching itself in its rage. She wanted to stay and watch what would happen if such an event were to transpire, but Xie Lian dragged her away, only for her to abruptly bump into someone else. This man was wearing a brightly-colored pinstripe suit, and his face seemed to be shrunken in--Ban Yue could see the sharp edges of the man’s skull below his skin.

Looking down at her, he piped up, “Young lady, watch where you’re going!" He paused then, examining her more closely. "Ah, but I can see that you must be a promising young witch, eh? Care to take a gander at my fine wares?” He swept his hand out toward a glaring display of pink, neon green, and cyan colored brooms.

Ban Yue looked at him bug-eyed, and then at the brooms. Drooling at the garish arrangement, she nodded slowly. Beside her, Xie Lian slapped his face.

“Ah, Ban Yue, this is the broom seller Mei Nian Qing. Ahem. He’s been selling brooms here for I don’t know how long… Ban Yue, I know they all look very nice, but I really can’t afford this kind of thing, you know that.”

Mei Nian Qing turned toward Xie Lian. “That’s where you’re wrong, Xie Lian! I’ve been informed not even an hour ago that you and your young ward here are to have nothing but the finest brooms I carry, on the house! Come, come in now.” He motioned for Ban Yue to follow. “Ban Yue, is it? Well, I’ll have you know that this store carries all fashions of flying brooms. Now, I may not understand all these newfangled trends in the mortal realm, but I’ve been made aware by _certain_ unsavory punks-" He made a point to glare across the street where a young man in a leather jacket was loitering. "-that a young witch or warlock wouldn’t be seen dead without one of these premium day-glo models! To which I say-” He motioned around his shrunken face, “Hey now, what’s wrong with being dead!”

Ban Yue sifted through the brooms like a kid at a candy store, before finally landing on an electric yellow-and-green variety with highlighter-orange bristles. “This one!” She said, “I want this one!” She turned toward Xie Lian. “Granduncle Hua, please, oh pretty please, can I have it?”

Xie Lian sighed, then relented. “Well, someone else is paying for it anyway…” Normally, he wouldn’t take such charity, whoever the generous donor might be, but he really couldn’t argue with Ban Yue’s bright eyes and dimpled smile. “Okay… We’ll take this one.”

“Marvelous, now, should I wrap it up or do you wanna fly it out?”

Before Ban Yue could answer, the boy Mei Nian Qing had just glared at sauntered over. He wore a sour face and mean attitude, and upon closer examination, Xie Lian realized that he was the very same boy who had been standing next to him at the bus stop!

“Hey,” the boy said. “I see you’ve got a new broom. Looks pretty good, but it’s still not enough to take away from how lame you look hanging out with your old man! You wanna learn a thing or two about Halloweentown, you should hang out with me instead.”

Ban Yue shot him a raspberry: “Pbbbllbblttttt! As if! Just because I let you carry me in your trick-or-treat basket doesn’t mean I really wanna hang out with nasty boys like you, right Granduncle Hua?”

Xie Lian stood beside her, waving his hands. “It’s, it’s really no issue! Please, we mean no trouble-”

But Ban Yue had already mounted her broom. “You think you’re so cool, maybe you can learn a thing or two from me!” At that, she effortlessly flew up into the air.

Xie Lian gaped up at her. “Ban Yue, you come down right now! Right now, young lady!”

The boy just walked away snickering. Mei Nian Qing, on the other hand, addressed Xie Lian. “Hey, pay no mind to that Pei Su kid. He’s just a baaaaad apple. But, Xie Lian, if you want to follow her, I do still have your old broom Fang Xin in the back…” Mei Nian Qing coughed, scratching his head. “Or, at least I think I do… It might have gotten lost one of these centuries…”

Grimacing, Xie Lian shook his head. “No no, not that one, please. I’d really rather just, um…” He was about to grab one of the silly neon-colored brooms when something unusual caught his eye down the street-

-It was his old neighbor Lang Ying! Now, after the plague had been cleared from the Xian Le neighborhood, of course everyone had been healed and definitely no one died from the disease, but this Lang Ying on the street looked to be talking to himself, just as he had when those two faces had planted themselves on his chest! Xie Lian ran over to investigate, but, seeing him, Lang Ying ran away.

"Hey! Wait, wait up!" Xie Lian shouted, making chase.

Hearing the kerfuffle going on below her, Ban Yue zoomed down in front of Lang Ying, who then proceeded to push her over and disappear down an alleyway. Ban Yue got up, brushing the dust off of her patched clothes. "What a jerk!" she exclaimed, just as Xie Lian caught up.

He folded his arms. "No, that's not it--it's the disease that makes people go crazy like that."

"Oh," Ban Yue replied. "But still, that hurt!"

“I’m sorry, Ban Yue.” Xie Lian stared blankly in the distance, still in a daze. Exhaling, he put a hand to his chin and considered his options. Although it was likely that Lang Ying had gotten away, he decided to still go and peek his head into the alleyway, just to check. He was just about to take a step forward when someone cleared their throat behind him. Xie Lian twisted his head around, then gulped.

"Oh, hi there, Ling Wen."

"Hello, Xie Lian. Come with me; the mayor would like to see you."

"Oh, uh, right." Sheepishly, Xie Lian followed after the pincushion-woman, beckoning Ban Yue to follow them.

Ban Yue looked around, proudly carrying her new broom, summoning all the courage and self confidence that her granduncle now lacked. She stuck her tongue out at Pei Su, who was now chewing gum and leaning against the mayor's manor, arms folded and one leg bent, foot resting against the wall. He just flared a nostril at her and rolled his eyes, otherwise pretending that she wasn't important enough for him to waste his attention on.

When they reached the mayor's office, Xie Lian kept his eyes glued to the floor- Ban Yue was left in the lobby with Ling Wen.

Mayor Jun Wu smiled kindly toward his once-protege, removing his black top hat with a flourish and stepping out from behind his desk.

“Xie Lian. It’s good to see you.”

Xie Lian only peeked up briefly, but largely kept his head down. “Good to see you too, mayor.”

Jun Wu raised his eyebrows. “It doesn’t look like it. Tell me, Xie Lian, what troubles you?”

“Ah, I just… It’s been a while, you know?” Xie Lian tilted his face up slightly, hands held behind his back. “Sir, I just…” He trailed off, unable to find the words.

Jun Wu continued smiling as he padded closer and patted Xie Lian on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about all that, Xie Lian. Anyhoo, I’ve called you back up for a reason.”

Xie Lian nodded. “Human face disease.”

“Indeed. There have been isolated outbreaks of it across Halloweentown. Now, I have a hypothesis of how it’s been spreading, but I’ll need your help to stop it.”

“Okay,” Xie Lian responded uneasily. “What’s your theory?”

Jun Wu walked calmly back to his desk, beckoning Xie Lian to follow him. On that desk was a map of Halloweentown, and on that map were a variety of Ling Wen’s pearl-headed pins. Jun Wu motioned to it. “These pins mark every place where there has been an instance of human face disease in the past month. As you can see, the pins cluster around this area, the Ghost City neighborhood of Halloweentown.”

Xie Lian nodded, then thought back to his arrival. Wasn’t the Ghost City neighborhood precisely where that mysterious stranger had led him?

Jun Wu continued, folding his hands together on the desk, “Now, Xie Lian, although it was Bai Wuxiang who initially spread the disease back then, I don’t think this outbreak is something as serious as him returning. After all, I was the one who defeated that monster back then; he’s definitely gone for good. But, perhaps these outbreaks have been caused by something tainted by a relic from the past.”

Xie Lian frowned, looking down at the map. He pointed toward a spot where the pins were the most dense. “Where is this place?”

Jun Wu smiled. “I’m glad you asked. That is the place of greatest suspicion. You see, since you left, a certain ghost has gained some prominence in that area. His name is Hua Cheng, and he lives in a house called Paradise Manor, where everything that gets lost--old socks, earrings, books--you name it, once they get lost they appear there. It’s a terrible, stinky, nasty place, and its owner is the terriblest, stinkiest, nastiest denizen of my humble town. That, I think, is the place where this relic is to be found.”

“Hmmm…” Xie Lian took a breath. “And you want me to go there and look?”

“That’s right,” Jun Wu answered. “Do you think you can handle it, Xie Lian?”

Xie Lian pinched his lips, looking to the side. “Well, I definitely have, ahem, some experience sifting through junk…”

“Good,” Jun Wu smiled. “I’ll put Lang Qian Qiu on the case with you.”

“Ehhhh???” Xie Lian went bug-eyed.

Jun Wu shot him a look. “Hmm? Oh, Lang Qian Qiu is simply just the warlock stationed closest to the Ghost City neighborhood. Lang Ying’s son, have you not met him?”

Xie Lian put on a tight smile. “Ah, right, right, yes of course aha.”

“Mn. Well, it was good to see you, Xie Lian. Good luck, and don’t hesitate to call my office if you run into trouble.”

“Uh-huh.” Xie Lian began walking away.

“Oh, and Xie Lian?”

Xie Lian twisted his head slightly back.

“Watch out for Hua Cheng.”

Nodding, Xie Lian left, meeting Ban Yue back out in the lobby. She greeted him by spinning around with a flourish, showing off an intricately woven translucent red-and-gold shawl with mystical designs.

“Look, Granduncle Hua! Ms. Ling Wen gave me this pretty shawl as a present for my thirteenth Halloween, so I won’t get cold! Isn’t it cool?! She sewed it herself!” She twirled around some more, beaming.

Xie Lian smiled at her. “Yes, Ban Yue, it’s lovely. Come now, we’ve got to go on an errand for the mayor.”

Ban Yue ran out the door, excited. “Great!”

Before she could get too far, Xie Lian added, “Hold on, hold on, we have to wait for the warlock Lang Qian Qiu. He’s gonna help us out.”

“Oh, okay.”

Once out the threshold, Xie Lian laid eyes on a man who was waiting for him there. That man seemed oddly familiar, yet was a complete stranger to him. Ban Yue approached him, asking,

“Hey! Are you the warlock Lang Qian Qiu?”

The man turned to her, startled. Getting a better look at his face, he seemed to be somewhat rattled and pale. Fanning himself, he answered, “No no, my name is Shi Qing Xuan, and I’m not a warlock; I’m a werewolf. I’m here to see the mayor- you see, my best friend Ming Yi has gone missing, and I don’t know what to do without him! Ach, and just after we got our hair done!” He fanned himself at a more rapid clip, anguish in his face. “There have been a lot of disappearances lately, and I fear-”

Xie Lian rushed over to Shi Qing Xuan, comforting him with a hand to the shoulder. “Don’t worry, sir, we’re going to get to the bottom of these disappearances. Now, where was the last place your Ming Yi went?”

Shi Qing Xuan exhaled, face in his palm. “Well, he said he was headed to the Ghost City neighborhood…”

Xie Lian and Ban Yue exchanged looks. Ban Yue exclaimed. “Well that’s perfect! That’s just where we’re going! Here, you should come with us!”

Shi Qing Xuan met her eyes, then nodded. “O-okay.” He smiled. “Okay, yeah, I’ll come with you!”

Ban Yue smiled back. “Great! Now we just have to wait for Lang Qian Qiu!”

Xie Lian looked to the side. “Hmm, sure… Or maybe he’s gone ahead. This issue with Ming Yi seems pretty urgent though, so maybe we should just go.” He smiled nervously.

“Yeah, let’s go!” Shi Qing Xuan replied. “Don’t worry, Ming-xiong, we’ll save you!” Fist in the air, he charged forward, leaving Xie Lian and Ban Yue no option but to follow along.


	3. Confrontations!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter also vaguely references another Disney Channel original movie from the 90s, lol, comment if you catch it~

The trio walked at a quick clip down the lanterned streets toward the Ghost City neighborhood. Ban Yue made conversation:

“Say, Mr. Shi Qing Xuan, you look kinda familiar- do you have a sister with the same fan?”

“Haha, no, of course not! Oh, but perhaps you happened to see me in my female wolf form.”

“Ohhhh, I see! Oh, that’s great, because I saw you with your friend, so that means we also know what Ming Yi looks like, at least in her bat-form…”

“That’s true! Ming-xiong may be my best friend, but he really isn’t very creative in crafting his female form--no matter what, he’ll always just be a gloomy curveless twig with no sense of humor--oh, but she’s really a doll when you get to know her!”

“Oh, I bet! Vampires are so cool!”

“They sure are! Although, if I’m honest, Ming-jie’s really not the best at being a vampire. You know, just the other day I asked her if she ever got a craving, y’know, for _my_ blood, because, as you can clearly see, I’m quite the delectable and enticing warm-blooded creature.” Shi Qing Xuan flipped his hair, exposing his neck to demonstrate. “But you know what she did?? She just said ‘No.’ And then she up and ogled, like, _drooled!_ At a street performer’s seal! A seal, of all things! Who is she, a shark! Hmph!” Shi Qing Xuan fanned himself indignantly.

“Oh, I’m sorry. But… Isn’t that better? For your best friend to not want to suck your blood? I sure wouldn’t want something sucking my blood!” Ban Yue tugged her new shawl closer.

“Hmph, speak for yourself, little witch!” Shi Qing Xuan smirked as he continued fanning himself.

Xie Lian cut in then, “Okay, okay, let’s… not talk anymore about, ahh _sucking blood_, okay? Ban Yue’s only thirteen years old…”

Shi Qing Xuan pursed his lips. “Okay okay… Hey, look, there’s Paradise Manor! C’mon, let’s go go go!”

Xie Lian grabbed Shi Qing Xuan by the collar before he could run off. “Hang on, hang on. We have to be sneaky, now.” At that, he slowed to a tiptoe. “After all, we don’t want to anger Hua Cheng, right?”

“Right, right,” Shi Qing Xuan answered, furling his fan.

“Okay, so, what’s our plan of action? Shi Qing Xuan, you’ve been here longer than anyone. What’s the best way to get past Hua Cheng?”

“Hmm…” Shi Qing Xuan looked up to a nearby lantern. “Well, to be honest, Hua Cheng is fiercely protective of everything in his house. The only way anyone’s been known to get anything from him is to make a bet.”

Xie Lian grimaced. “Hmm, that’s no good- my luck’s terrible.”

“Oh, mine is fine! I could bet!” Shi Qing Xuan exclaimed. “Let’s do that!”

Exhaling, Xie Lian nodded. “Okay. Um, so… do we just knock on the door?”

“Sure! I don’t see why not!” Shi Qing Xuan strode forward and raised a hand to the brass door knocker, which was in the shape of a horned and mean-looking gargoyle. Shi Qing Xuan grabbed it, only to recoil back in pain:

“AHHHHHOOOOWW! HEY, WHAT WAS THAT FOR!!” Shi Qing Xuan shook his hand out, then clutched at the bite marks, grumbling about how vicious the Xiaxianyue door knocker was.

The door knocker replied coolly, “Master’s orders.”

Listening briefly to Shi Qing Xuan’s curses, Xie Lian stepped forward and saluted to the demonic face. “Sir Xiaxianyue door knocker, will you let us through?”

This time, the door opened without hesitation. The door knocker replied politely, “Yes, of course Xie Lian may pass through!” Xie Lian raised his eyebrows, but stepped into the house all the same. Ban Yue, too, skipped through, chiding Shi Qing Xuan along the way:

“See, all you had to do was ask nicely, not make such demands!”

Still aggrieved, Shi Qing Xuan exhaled. “Fine,” he replied, following the other two. However, before he could make his way through, the door closed right in his face. “HEEYYYY!!!” He pounded against the door, shouting all the while.

“Sorry,” the door knocker answered. “Master’s orders.”

Once inside, Xie Lian was surprised to find that Paradise Manor was in fact quite clean and nice-smelling, contrary to what mayor Jun Wu had said. Then again, maybe Xie Lian’s sense of smell had just been spoiled after spending so many years dumpster diving. He looked around. It was actually quite-

“Wow, this place is awesome! So rich! Granduncle Hua, didn’t you say that this would be a real dump?” Ban Yue exclaimed- being naturally curious, she had eavesdropped upon Xie Lian’s conversation with the mayor.

Xie Lian coughed. “Um, that’s just what the mayor said…”

A low voice resounded above them. “Well, gege, I hope it’s not too much of a dump. I did some tidying when I learned you were coming.”

Xie Lian whipped his head around, then up to the top of the staircase where Hua Cheng stood. If possible, his eyes widened even more upon seeing the man-

It was the same man who led him from the bus!

Dressed in a red tunic and black boots that jingled as he made his way down the stairs, Hua Cheng’s voice was exactly the same- husky and low. His hair was long, loose, and raven-black, and he wore a single braidlet next to the side of his face, held together by a red pearl. His skin was a translucent, ghostly white, especially striking against all the black and red. And, perhaps most striking, an eyepatch covered over his right eye. Hua Cheng wore a cool and collected look as he met Xie Lian’s wide eyes-

-That is, until a giant cockroach scuttled down the steps, faster than Hua Cheng, and jumped up onto Xie Lian like an eager puppy. The cockroach had a single red eye on its head, which rolled around excitedly as it humped against Xie Lian’s leg.

“E-MING! NO! DOWN!” Hua Cheng barked, hurrying down the rest of the staircase, all composure lost. He scooped the cockroach off of Xie Lian’s legs and swatted it across the eye. E-Ming winced and curled up in itself, letting out a high-pitched cry.

“BAD! BAD BAD E-MING! BAD!” Hua Cheng kept hitting and scolding.

Xie Lian backed up, then cleared his throat. “Sir Hua Cheng,” he saluted. “I am honored to make your acquaintance.”

Chucking E-Ming across the room with no small measure of disgust, Hua Cheng then bowed in turn. “No, no, I am honored to host gege.” He rose up. “Now, to what do I owe the pleasure of gege’s visit?”

Both men stared at each other for a time.

Ban Yue turned her head back and forth between the two before finally breaking the silence, “Hey, good thinking, Granduncle Hua- since Shi Qing Xuan’s stuck outside and we can’t use his luck, you can battle Hua Cheng in a staring contest to get the relic! Here, I’ll help!” Ban Yue began swishing her hands around at Hua Cheng, thinking of spells on the fly. A spark shot from her finger, and, with a crack, a cloud of smoke burst around Hua Cheng. When the dust cleared, his long hair was platinum blond.

Ban Yue hugged the shawl around herself and clenched her teeth. “OH SORRY I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT I WAS DOING!!”

Hua Cheng whipped his head toward her, then looked at his newly-blond locks in shock.

The entire hall was silent for a moment, save for a laughing shout from above.

“Ha! Serves you right, you evil demon! Let me down! Let me down now!”

Hua Cheng snapped back, “Shut up, you! Didn’t I tell you to remain silent if you know what’s good for you?!”

Xie Lian and Ban Yue looked up to the ceiling, where a young warlock was trapped by a chandelier and wriggled around, trying to get free. Xie Lian then looked down, palm to his forehead.

“Who are you?!” Ban Yue shouted.

Xie Lian sighed. “That’s Lang Qian Qiu.” He turned toward Hua Cheng, who was still tugging at his hair in distress. Without a thought, Xie Lian snapped his fingers, turning the hair back to its usual black color. “Sir Hua Cheng, I’m afraid that boy up there is our mission partner… Is there any way I could arrange for his freedom from that chandelier?”

Hua Cheng raised his eyebrows, dropping his hair contentedly and dusting himself off. “Well, I’m willing to trade, but I’m afraid that boy’s made some trouble- he came here with the intent to steal something of mine, and then he interfered in a business transaction.”

Xie Lian smiled nervously, thinking of what he had in Ruoye that might be worth trading. But, he thought, what was in Ruoye but some spare socks and scraps of pages from books? In the end, he could only pull out the misshapen half-donut in his sleeve. Swallowing, he asked, “How’s this?”, fully expecting to be laughed out or trapped by a chandelier himself.

Hua Cheng cocked his head at the donut, then smiled. “I accept!” he replied happily, snatching the donut and taking a satisfied bite out of it. Then, he pressed a button on the wall, releasing Lang Qian Qiu, who would have proceeded to fall tragically to the floor if Ban Yue hadn’t sprung up on her broom and helped catch him.

As soon as Lang Qian Qiu dismounted the broom, he pointed at Hua Cheng. “You! What are you doing with Ming Yi! And why are you trying to revive the human face plague?! My father’s come down with it and I’m worried sick about him!!” Xie Lian held the boy back, trying to calm him down. Meanwhile, Hua Cheng folded his arms languidly, glaring at Lang Qian Qiu.

“My business transactions with Ming Yi are not of concern for useless trash like you. As for human face plague, I’ve been trying to stop it, same as you. All the breakouts around Ghost City haven’t been my doing.” Hua Cheng made eye contact with Xie Lian, then. “Gege, I promise, I’m being framed.”

Taking a deep breath and finally managing to restrain Lang Qian Qiu, Xie Lian responded diplomatically, “Well, sir Hua Cheng, I’m willing to take you at face value, but are you sure there’s not secretly something in Paradise Manor that might be spreading the disease without your knowing?”

“Gege, I assure you. There’s nothing here that would do it. Please believe me.” Hua Cheng’s face was solemn and sincere.

Xie Lian frowned. “Hmm, well, would you mind us taking stock to make extr-”

Xie Lian was unable to finish the sentiment, as a loud crash, followed by a mournful “AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” filled the house.

“MING-XIONG, MING-XIONG, HOW COULD HUA CHENG DO THIS TO YOU!”

“Shut up! Don’t look at me!” Ming Yi snapped in response from across the house.

Lang Qian Qiu burst through Xie Lian’s hold and grabbed Ban Yue’s broom to hasten his escape. Xie Lian made chase, summoning a broom from a nearby closet, from which a whole room of trash spilled out, making a great clamor and raising quite the stench. Ban Yue ran after them both, generally wanting to remain a part of things, but also so she could escape the wave of lost things from the closet.

They met a strange scene in what appeared to be a kitchen: Shi Qing Xuan, now in her female wolf form, was clutching at Ming Yi, who, while still exhibiting some of the vampire features from his female form--dramatically pointed canines, pointy ears, and ghostly white skin--now had patches of scales around his body, gills, and, in addition to bat wings, there was a large dorsal fin sprouting from his back. Shi Qing Xuan howled to the ceiling, stomping one of her clawed feet in despair. All the while, Ming Yi struggled, trying to pry himself from her grip.

“Agh, stop, g-get off!”

“Ming-xiong, oh Ming-xiong, what’s he done to you??” Shi Qing Xuan wailed.

Xie Lian ran up and separated the two, grabbing ahold of the werewolf. “Shi Qing Xuan, please, clearly Ming Yi wants his space.”

At the threshold of the room, Hua Cheng leaned languidly against the wall. “Yes, clearly,” he added.

“Everyone, shut up!” Ming Yi barked. He raised his head toward Shi Qing Xuan, eyes vulnerable. “Is… Is it really so bad to be a merman, to you?”

Shi Qing Xuan inhaled, not sure how to respond. Ming Yi grunted, looking to the floor.

“I see.” His brows scrunched together. “Well I suppose you haven’t heard of a ‘He Xuan’, have you?”

Shi Qing Xuan shook her head. “No, no, Ming-xiong, I don’t! Is that who did this to you?”

Ming Yi chuckled bitterly. “You’ve called the wrong name, Shi Qing Xuan!” At that, he looked back at the werewolf. Slowly, the rest of his features morphed--more and more scales appeared on his skin, fins sprouted from his arms, and he fell to the floor, his legs having turned to one large fishtail below his robes. His eyes were now large and bulged out. “My name is He Xuan, and the reason I’m like this is because of your brother!”

Shi Qing Xuan gasped. “What? Ge would never do this!”

“Ha! Think again! When you wanted to go to cosmetology school, your brother saw that there was only one person ahead of you, and that person’s name was He Xuan! Me! But, since we both had the same name, he switched them, so you got to go instead of me! Not only that, but he bribed a warlock to poison me so that I became a merman! And who can go to cosmetology school without legs, huh? I was a promising hairdresser, but ended up dumped into some desolate lagoon in the mortal world, and only managed to come back here by getting bitten by a vampire and flying up through the Mount Tonglu Cinema! You know why I’m here?! I’ve been coming here to Paradise Manor every mortal Halloween to take a dose of a potion just so I don’t get banished with the other merpeople again!”

Shi Qing Xuan just gaped, wide-eyed, then rushed forward to embrace He Xuan, wrapping her arms tightly around him. “Oh, He-xiong, I’m so sorry!” She pulled back. “But you should know that I don’t care whether or not you’re a merman- I like you just the same, no matter what!”

He Xuan looked down, then up. “You mean it?”

Shi Qing Xuan hugged tight again. “Of course I do, He-xiong! And I’ll have a stern talking-to with ge about this!” She pet his hair in the back. “And I can teach you all the things I learned in cosmetology school- won’t it be great, He-xiong? We can work side by side for the rest of our lives, just gabbing and gossiping and being fabulous!” She beamed.

He Xuan pouted over her shoulder. “Fine,” he replied, then pushed her off, brushing the fur from his scales.

Unruffled by He Xuan’s rebuff, Shi Qing Xuan just kept smiling. “And you’re still by best friend, right, He-xiong?”

He Xuan scoffed. “Dream on,” he replied, before rummaging around in the junk next to him for a bottle which he then proceeded to down, turning back into a normal vampire. She also transformed into her female form.

“Great!” Shi Qing Xuan replied in good spirits, taking her best friend's hand. “Alright, let’s go prepare for the feast! Agh, now we both have to get our hair re-done. He-jie, you really are such a troublesome best friend, you know that?” The pair clambered through the hole Shi Qing Xuan had blasted in a nearby window, Shi Qing Xuan’s wheedling voice fading out of earshot.

Xie Lian turned around and shrugged, broom still in hand. “Well, all’s well that ends well, right?” He looked at the other three still present: Hua Cheng as smug and lazy as usual, tossing some dice in his hand and winking charmingly at Xie Lian, Ban Yue smiling, a bit pale, shrugging her new shawl close, and Lang Qian Qiu-

-Lang Qian Qiu was now staring at Xie Lian, face full of spite!

“Eh?” Xie Lian asked, then shifted his gaze to the broom in his hand. His eyes widened, and he let it clatter to the ground. Lang Qian Qiu pointed at him.

“YOU! IT WAS YOU ALL ALONG! FANG XIN!!”

Xie Lian waved his arms around, “Ah, ah, it’s, it’s ah-” He was going to say ‘I can explain’ but really he couldn’t.

“YOU! YOU’RE THE REASON I’VE BEEN STUCK AS A 13-YEAR-OLD FOR THE PAST FIVE CENTURIES!!” Lang Qian Qiu was about to charge at Xie Lian, but Hua Cheng held him back.

“No, idiot, you’re wro-”

“No, he’s right.” Xie Lian looked to Hua Cheng, then to the floor. “He’s right. I did cast such a nasty spell on him.”

Still, Hua Cheng didn’t let up his hold. “But gege, even though you did- I still know the whole story, and Lang Qian Qiu should too. Gege, look over there in the cupboard, there should be a big jar of frogs.”

Xie Lian stared at Hua Cheng piercingly for a moment, then turned about to the cupboard, where indeed, there was a jar of frogs, big as a person. He bent his knees and huffed, but still managed to pick it up and put it in the middle of the kitchen.

Hua Cheng addressed Lang Qian Qiu then. “Okay, useless trash. Tell everyone what happened.”

Glaring around him and struggling in Hua Cheng’s grasp, Lang Qian Qiu spoke up:

“When I was 12 years old, I came upon an old recipe book buried in the backyard, and followed one of the recipes in my cauldron. It opened a portal between Halloweentown and the mortal world, and the first thing I saw in it was a warlock on a broom. That broom.” He pointed to the one on the ground in the kitchen next to Xie Lian. “Fang Xin. So, I shouted, ‘Hey! You shouldn’t be in the mortal realm right?’ But the man wouldn’t turn around- instead he rummaged in his handbag and put on a mask before looking at me. He asked me how I had made this portal, and I told him about the old recipe book. Then he offered to teach me his spells. And so I hid away my cauldron and every night, I would talk to that man, who said his name was Fang Xin.

“He taught me well for almost a year, until the eve of my thirteenth Halloween. But on that day, when I came to my room to visit him, it was a big wreck, and to top it all off, he suddenly cast a spell and disappeared, destroying my cauldron and the recipe book with it! And I haven’t aged since then!”

“Mhmm.” Hua Cheng turned to Xie Lian. “Is that right?”

“Yes, that’s right.” Xie Lian hung his head.

“And why did you put that spell on him?”

Xie Lian sighed. “It was because that day, on the eve of Lang Qian Qiu’s thirteenth Halloween, before he came to the cauldron, I saw someone else there. I recognized that person; he was one of Bai Wuxiang’s servants- the frog golem Qi Rong! But he was never captured, or seen again, until just then- right in front of me, he ransacked Lang Qian Qiu’s room. He was muttering about Lang Qian Qiu being a catalyst, that he would be just like me and finally release the plague into the mortal world, as soon as he came of age as a warlock. But, seeing me, he immediately disappeared. So, not knowing exactly what Qi Rong had done, I did all I could do- I destroyed every trace of that portal and on top of that I made sure Lang Qian Qiu would never be able to come of age, just be be careful.” He exhaled, then looked to his old mentee. “I’m sorry.”

Hua Cheng replied calmly. “Alright. We have both sides of the story now. Gege, do the glamor spell. On the jar.”

Doing as told, Xie Lian watched as the clump of frogs within the giant jar turned into a big green man, who struggled within his glass cage, ranting and raving silently. -Silently, seeing as the glass of the jar kept whatever rude words he was shouting from young ears.

“Alex???” Lang Qian Qiu exclaimed.  
“Qi Rong???” Xie Lian exclaimed.

“Both,” Hua Cheng answered. “I’ve managed to extract some answers out of this frog golem that I caught snooping around my stuff, stinking it all up. It’s all true. Now, Lang Qian Qiu, tell me, did your friend Alex tell you anything just before your thirteenth Halloween?”

Lang Qian Qiu gaped wide-eyed at this ‘Alex’ he thought he had known. “Yeah! Well, I had just told him about this portal of mine, and he said he knew a really cool spell- he said it’d really impress Fang Xin, but that I wouldn’t be able to do it until I came of age!”

Both Hua Cheng and Xie Lian raised their eyebrows. Xie Lian immediately grabbed for a pen and paper. “Lang Qian Qiu! Write down the spell Qi Rong told you, and I’ll undo the no-aging spell I put on you back then. You know how it works, right? To undo a spell, all you have to do is say in backwards!”

Hyperventilating, Lang Qian Qiu nodded, and scribbled down the spell:

_“Esidarap Ni Traeh Tub, Ssyba Eht Ni Ydob.”_

“Okay, now write it backwards.”

Hua Cheng rushed over, laying a hand on Xie Lian’s shoulder. “Gege, this was the only thing I wasn’t able to extract from the useless trash golem.”

Lang Qian Qiu then wrote the letters backwards, all of their hearts beating fast:

Xie Lian read it slowly, “Body in the abyss, but heart in paradise.” Gasping, he looked up at Hua Cheng, and instinctively took his hand. “It couldn’t be.”

Ban Yue walked slowly forward, somewhat dazed by the sequence of events. “Wait, what’s up with that? So the counter-spell is the part that actually makes sense?”

Xie Lian huffed a breath. “Not only that, but it’s the oath of office I took when I agreed to be the neighborhood representative of the Xian Le neighborhood! My own… flourish.”

Hua Cheng looked to him, squeezing his hand. “Gege, whatever it is, it’s targeting you.”

Xie Lian stared into the distance. “Yeh.” At that, Hua Cheng embraced him fully.

“Gege, don’t worry. I believe in you. We’ll be able to figure this out together, right?”

Xie Lian took a breath, then nodded, settling into Hua Cheng’s tall and slender form. He only vaguely realized that that form didn’t have a heartbeat- but that made sense. It was the Ghost City neighborhood, after all. Naturally, the most prominent figure of this neighborhood would also be a ghost. He clung tightly to Hua Cheng, then murmured, “Yeah. Yeah we will.”

Then, he separated from the red-clad man, and snapped his fingers at Lang Qian Qiu. “There. Now you can age again. Go, and anyone you see with the plague, you know what to do.”

Lang Qian Qiu nodded. “Yes!” He was about to turn to leave, but did a double take, fumbling around in his pockets. “Oh, and… here.” He handed Xie Lian a red pearl earring. “It’s not much, but I heard you gave it to my dad before, and I had meant to give it back, if you ever came back from exile. So here.”

Xie Lian took the earring and put it in his right ear. “Oh. Um, thanks.”

Ban Yue observed, “Hey, it matches the one on Hua Cheng’s braid!” At that, Hua Cheng slung his hair over his shoulder and bluffed,

“Little girl, I don’t know what you’re talking about. But, doesn’t gege look handsome with that earring?”

Ban Yue grinned. “Sure!”

Xie Lian blushed, but didn’t quibble about it. He waved goodbye to Lang Qian Qiu, who went to find the broom he had come in on, then flew off through the broken window. As the younger warlock left, Xie Lian heard something from his sleeve- ever since going on this mission, he had moved his head phone from Ruoye to a more accessible place. Hearing a voice from it, he pulled the phone out.

“Xie Lian, how is the mission going?” Jun Wu’s voice.

Xie Lian answered, smiling, “Oh, it’s had its ups and downs, but I think we’re making some progress. In any case, I don’t think Hua Cheng is behind the plague’s resurgence. I can tell you more details in person.”

“I see, Xie Lian. Well, how about after the great Halloween feast? You know, it’s just beginning now- I wouldn’t want you to be late.”

“Oh, right! Okay, be right there, then!”

Xie Lian turned to Hua Cheng. “Um, I think we’ve got to go. How about after I make my report to the mayor, I’ll come back and we can think some more, okay? And…” Xie Lian ducked his head out to where he had made such a mess in the main hall. “I’ll also help you tidy up.”

“It’s no issue, gege.”

“Oh… Okay then. Well, I’ll see you later- Oh! Unless you want to come to the feast with us? Everyone in Halloweentown is invited, after all.”

Hua Cheng waved a hand. “No thanks. I don’t like going to their stupid festivals. Enjoy yourself gege. I look forward to seeing you again.”

“Oh. Okay.” Xie Lian couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed by Hua Cheng’s rejection, especially after they had shared that hug, but he still felt heartened at the prospect of meeting him again. “Alright, Ban Yue, let’s go!”

Hua Cheng led them to the door, each carrying their own broom, and both of them waved goodbye.

“Thanks Hua Cheng!”  
“Thanks, Hua Cheng!”

As they walked away, Ban Yue murmured to Xie Lian, “Hey, they’ll have lots of food at the feast, right? I’m getting kind of tired.”

Xie Lian patted her on the shoulder. “Oh, yes! The feast is a wonderful time, with all sorts of food. Ahh, it is past your bedtime, now isn’t it though? Maybe when we go back to Paradise Manor Hua Cheng will have an extra bedroom for you to sleep in.”

Ban Yue yawned and tugged the shawl around her. “Mmm, that sounds nice… And Hua Cheng is nice too~”

Xie Lian smiled. “He sure is.”

Back in front of Paradise Manor, Hua Cheng leaned against the threshold, eyeing Xie Lian as he walked away and fondling the red pearl holding his braidlet together. Smiling doe-eyed and drumming against the wood, he addressed the Xiaxianyue door knocker.

_“What a guy…”_


	4. Surprises at the Halloween feast

“Hey, Xie Lian, over here, over here!” Freshly coiffed, Shi Qing Xuan called Xie Lian and Ban Yue over to her place at the Halloween feast table. On one side of her was her brother Shi Wu Du, and on the other was He Xuan, who was staring daggers at the former. Shi Wu Du, in turn, pretended his little sibling’s best friend didn’t exist, paying more attention to his friends Ling Wen and Pei Ming on his other side: Ling Wen was wearing her very best red strawberry pincushion, bedazzled on all sides with many colors of pearl-headed pins. Pei Ming, on the other hand, didn’t appear to be any sort of special creature, much like his son Pei Su, who sat next to him.

Pei Su eyed Ban Yue, remarking, “Hey witch girl, you wanna hang out with the cool kids over here with me?”

On the other side of Pei Ming, Ling Wen chuckled, elbowing her friend. “Looks like the apple doesn’t fall very far from the tree, eh ol’ Pei?”

“Shut up.” Pei Ming grimaced, rubbing his head self-consciously.

Ban Yue just stuck her tongue out at Pei Su and followed Xie Lian closer to where Shi Qing Xuan and He Xuan were sitting. At the very head of the table, mayor Jun Wu presided over the feast, chin resting idly in his hand. As soon as she sat down, Ban Yue started gorging herself on all the various dishes around her- or, at least the ones that looked relatively safe. Although her stomach was generally pretty hardy what with Xie Lian’s cooking, she didn’t touch the eyeball casserole or, moreover, anything that moved of its own accord.

Ling Wen smiled coldly at her. “Hungry, are we?”

Ban Yue only looked up, drinking some hot apple cider. Wiping her chin, she nodded.

“Good," Ling Wen replied, holding a needle between two fingers.

Shi Qing Xuan laughed. “Yeah, wow, she almost eats as much as He-jie over here!” She slapped the mer-vampire on the back, but He Xuan barely raised her head in response, continuing to stuff her face. “I always thought it was weird that she ate so much given, y’know, that she was a vampire ‘n’ all, but now it makes perfect sense!”

Shi Wu Du now looked away with greater violence, pointedly ignoring his sister’s comments. Much like He Xuan, Ban Yue averted her attention from the awkwardness by continuing to eat.

At one point, a big, lumbering presence sat down next to Ban Yue, and she looked over-

-Well, if it wasn’t that very same two-headed ogre she had seen earlier! Feeling in better spirits now that she had eaten, she greeted them.

“Hello, sir! You know, you’re the first person with two heads I’ve met in my life! What’s it like?”

One of the heads eyed her suspiciously. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he grumbled.

The other turned to him. “What the heck? She’s Xie Lian’s kid from the mortal realm, obviously she’s never seen a two-headed person before- All she’s doing is trying to make conversation, but _of course_ you have to nitpick everything everyone says and mine it for offense, like you’ve got a thorn in your side or something!”

“Oh, everything’s so obvious with you, now isn’t it? Well maybe I wouldn’t be so sensitive if you weren’t always so naive and self-righteous and caught up in your own-”

As the two heads bickered, Ban Yue turned to Xie Lian and asked, “Are they always like this?”

Grim-faced, Xie Lian nodded.

On Ban Yue’s other side, Mu Qing responded, waving his arm at them, “You see, you heard what she said! So now I’m the bad guy for seeing offense where it was indeed intended?!”

Ban Yue was about to apologize profusely, but before she could, the mayor stood up, and the entire table went quiet.

Jun Wu addressed the feast's attendants: "Citizens of Halloweentown, what a wonderful night it is for us to celebrate our heritage. I'm especially glad to welcome some new and returning faces to our community." He tipped his black magician’s hat briefly to Xie Lian and Ban Yue, who respectively shrank back and smiled brightly. "Now," Jun Wu continued, looking out at the crowd, "I know that we're experiencing some strife right now, but it's times like this when we remember that we're stronger than those evil and disruptive elements who would disturb our harmony."

Everyone at the feast hooted, clapped, and stomped in applause. Jun Wu waited until they had quieted down before making his concluding remarks:

"So, I hope everyone enjoys themselves tonight, and with that, let the lantern battle begin!"

The applause now was even more riotous.

Beside Ban Yue, Xie Lian explained, "The lantern battle is basically Halloweentown's biggest popularity contest. It’s kind of silly; of course, every year the mayor wins, so it's really just a battle for second place. But Ban Yue, remember, never base your self worth on how popular you are- it's really bad, especially for a growing girl like you!”

Across from them, Shi Qing Xuan laughed. “Ha! Don’t ruin the fun just because you won’t be getting any lanterns!”

Xie Lian smiled and nodded. “Right, right, of course people should have fun.” Turning back to Ban Yue, he added, “And they are quite the sight! Here now, look, the first ones are starting to trickle through.” Xie Lian pointed to the Grand Martial Pumpkin.

Ban Yue watched in awe as glowing lanterns rose up from the jack-o-lantern like fireflies. “Woowww,” she exclaimed, for a moment ignoring her plate.

Names were called out, and the waves of lanterns floating up and out of the pumpkin increased in magnitude every time. Of course, Mu Qing and Feng Xin began arguing as their names were called in quick succession; although it was a tie, neither head had the face to accept it. Several citizens ended up having to escort the ogre away to calm them down.

Near the end, Shi Wu Du’s name was called, and Shi Qing Xuan clapped and smiled- normally, she’d shout and holler through the entire display of countless lanterns flying up for her brother, but she kept her celebration to a sober minimum, for He Xuan’s sake. Nevertheless, seeing that her best friend celebrated at all, the mer-vampire stomped off in a huff, followed rapidly by Shi Qing Xuan:

“Wait, wait, He-jie, don’t go!”

Shi Wu Du shouted after his sibling, but didn’t follow, wanting to keep up appearances himself. At last, Shi Wu Du’s lanterns stopped, and Jun Wu’s began, to clamorous fanfare. It wasn’t until the last of Jun Wu’s 961 lanterns faded into the night that people quieted down, assuming that the battle had finished, only for a last name to be called:

“AND, TO XIE LIAN, 3000 LANTERNS!!!”

Xie Lian snapped his head to the announcer in shock. At first, he was sure it was some nasty prank that one of his old enemies was pulling, but then the lanterns started pouring forth, lighting the entire sky like an eruption of molten gold. Xie Lian just gaped.

In addition to by far outnumbering the lanterns in every other display thus far, this spectacle was special in part because there was no applause for the greater part of it. Much like Xie Lian himself, the rest of Halloweentown’s citizens just gaped in shock.

That is, until most of the lanterns had already poured forth from the Grand Martial Pumpkin, and a slow clap erupted from the head of the table.

In a low, cool voice, Jun Wu paid respects: “Congratulations, Xie Lian. Of course, someone such as you is beyond tricks, so I must say, what a marvelous treat!” At that, he smiled, then raised his arms up and out, beckoning everyone else to join in the applause. “Come now, Xie Lian has won the lantern battle- Shouldn’t he be congratulated?”

Slowly, breaking out of their daze, people began clapping. Most of them didn’t even know who Xie Lian was, but they were truly impressed by the scene, and so the applause grew and grew in intensity.

Xie Lian smiled nervously, trying to quell the fanfare, but was ultimately powerless in this endeavor. Next to him, Ban Yue cheered the most excitedly, egging on the rest.

The sound swelled, and for a moment, its din muffled another raucous upheaval coming from the broken down movie theater, whose doors had abruptly opened. In fact, before many people could even stop clapping, they were already sucked in!

The Mount Tonglu Cinema had opened, and it was hungry! In an instant, celebratory whoops and shouts turned into bloodcurdling screams. The doors swung out with a swoosh, and like a great vacuum, the movie theater pulled in all the people present!

Only a few were able to remain: As it happened, both mayor Jun Wu and Xie Lian had thought fast and cast spells making themselves very heavy, while Ling Wen pulled out a big velcro strap that held her fast to the table. Xie Lian was able to grab onto Ban Yue, while Jun Wu pulled down Pei Su as he flew above. All five of them hunkered down, putting in their all to keep from being sucked into the demonic cinema.

At last, when everyone else had been pulled away, the doors to the movie theater shut with a loud burp. Ban Yue screamed:

“OH NO! IT’S EATEN THEM!!”

Jun Wu calmed everyone down. “Not quite. But, if we don’t get them out soon, they could be trapped there forever- The Mount Tonglu Cinema only opens once every century, and when that happens, a portal opens up in it, connecting Halloweentown with several other worlds, including the mortal realm. Some places it’s connected to don’t even exist anymore, and if someone were to go through the portal, they would be consigned to an eternity in the void.”

Ban Yue widened her eyes. “The void??”

“Yes, the void.” Jun Wu replied, “Like a channel on your tv that your parents didn’t pay for, little girl. Eternal static.”

“Oh… I don’t have parents… Or tv…” Ban Yue mumbled in reply.

Xie Lian changed the subject. “Mr. Mayor sir, what can we do to stop it?”

Jun Wu turned to him with a look of concern. “Xie Lian. Go find Hua Cheng. He first came to Halloweentown through the Mount Tonglu Cinema from another world, so he probably knows his way around the place. Ling Wen and I will look through our spell archive for something, but we’re counting on you to help us from the inside. You have your head phone?”

Xie Lian nodded. “Yessir!”

“Good. Now go.”

At that, Xie Lian and Ban Yue ran down the streets toward the Ghost City neighborhood. However, they didn’t run long; they were intercepted by a bright yellow taxi cab driven by a skeleton.

“Hey, hey, you two! Get in, Hua Cheng sent me to pick you up!”

Xie Lian and Ban Yue looked at each other for a second. Xie Lian shrugged. Ban Yue shouted, “Shotgun!”, and they both got in. The car shot off, veering and screeching around turns. Both Xie Lian and Ban Yue buckled up and prayed: given that their driver didn’t have any eyeballs, it appeared they were in for a wild ride.

“Say,” the driver said, blatantly turning his skull away from the road as he spoke, “You two just came from the feast, huh? Hahaha, bone-appetit, am I right??” The skeleton cackled at his own joke. “You know, I was gonna go myself, but all that schmoozin’ ‘n’ socializin’- I just really didn’t have the _guts_ for it AHAHAHAHAHA!!”

Ban Yue laughed along with the cab driver’s jokes. Turning to him, she said, “Hey, you’re pretty funny!”

“Oh yeah, yanno, they call me humerus!! But really, I’m just a bonehead!!!”

This time Xie Lian chuckled as well, diverted somewhat from the skeleton’s manic rampage on the road. At last, the car screeched to a stop in front of Paradise Manor, where a tall, red-clad figure waited, wearing his pet cockroach like a backpack and holding what looked like a torch with a smooth sphere at the end. Seeing Hua Cheng again, Xie Lian felt a little bit like his own guts lacked gravity. He barely noticed as the car’s geometry changed, shrinking the width of the backseat so that when Hua Cheng got in, their thighs squished together. Then Xie Lian’s blood started really pumping.

“Ahh, hi Hua Cheng. Good to… see you again.”

After setting E-Ming down by their feet and shooting the giant bug a warning look, Hua Cheng smiled sheepishly at Xie Lian. “Likewise, gege.”

“Umm, aren’t you going to put your seatbelt on? Here, I can shimmy over so you have roo-”

“Gege, I’m a ghost.”

“Oh, oh ah, right. Haha, silly me.” At that, the car started, and Xie Lian settled back, not trying to avoid touching Hua Cheng, not that he really had much of a choice with how cramped it was. “So, um, did you hear about what happened with the Mount Tonglu Cinema?”

“Mn,” Hua Cheng replied. “I felt its pull. And I think this is definitely connected with the spread of human face disease; gege, you know Bai Wuxiang came from the movie theater, same as me.”

Xie Lian felt a spike of fear through him at the mention of Bai Wuxiang. “Okay… Well, what should we do if Bai Wuxiang’s back?”

Hua Cheng smiled, but with an edge of uneasiness. “Don’t worry, gege. I’ve got a plan.” He raised up the torch-like talisman he was carrying, then unwrapped some paper from its handle. “See, once, a while back, a scrap of a page from a spellbook came into my possession, along with this talisman. I’ve gleaned from it that this spell can seal off certain demons. We could use it to trap Bai Wuxiang back in the world he came from.”

“Into the static!!” Ban Yue interjected from the front.

“Static?” Hua Cheng raised an eyebrow, but brushed it off, pulling out the scrap he was talking about. “Gege, why don’t you take a look at this? It says that one of the ingredients is scales from a mer-vampire- that’s why I was helping He Xuan out. In exchange for the tonic that suppressed his merman traits, he let me scrape off some of his scales, so I always have a fresh supply.”

“That’s great, Hua Cheng. Hmm…” Xie Lian pored over the incomplete spell, then widened his eyes. “Oh! We’re in luck!” At that, he rummaged around Ruoye. “Ahhh, I’ve got a lot of socks in here… but somewhere, somewhere…” His arm was all the way in the handbag, up to the shoulder. “Here it is!” he shouted, pulling out another scrap of paper.

It fit the other one exactly, a perfect match!

“Gege! You had the other side all along?!”

Xie Lian shrugged. “You find a lot of things scrap collecting. Okay, look here, it looks like the other ingredients are: Two red pearls- Great! We’ve got those!” Xie Lian pulled the one holding Hua Cheng’s braidlet together close to the one through his own right ear, not noticing the faint blush crossing the demon’s otherwise pale face. “Okay, and, the third and last ingredient is, a long-fermented thorn… Oof, that one might be harder. I don’t have any of those…”

Hua Cheng hung his head. “Neither do I.” At that, the cab stopped, and everyone got out. Helping Xie Lian from his seat and catching the other man’s waist with his hand, he added, “But gege, I’m sure we’ll think of something. And then, when this is all over, you can show me your sock collection. Who knows? You saw my stinky trash pile… I got to clear up some lanterns I had been collecting tonight, but there’s still a lot to tidy. Maybe we’ll find some more matches.”

Thinking back to that marvelous spectacle at the feast, Xie Lian chuckled, then looked to the ground, where he dragged a foot back and forth. “Maybe so…”

“But, until then, gege,” Hua Cheng tipped Xie Lian’s chin up, then took the other man’s left hand. “This will be a nasty business. The Mount Tonglu cinema is a confusing place with lots of twists and turns. It’s very easy to get lost, so I’m going to put something on you so we won’t lose each other.”

Xie Lian nodded and watched as Hua Cheng tied a thin red string to the middle finger of his left hand, matching the one on the demon’s right. Xie Lian swallowed, feeling the invisible connection now tying them to one another.

Back near the car, Ban Yue kept chatting with the cab driver, who made a last parting quote:

“Well, tibia honest, if they don’t stop flirting with each other, they’re gonna need a sternum talking to, no fibula!”

.

Back at Paradise Manor, Pei Su stepped through the still-broken window in the kitchen and looked around. Seeing the large glass jar with a green man inside, he raised his head phone to his mouth and said,

“I’ve got sight of him.”

“Good, now open the jar.” Ling Wen’s voice.

Pei Su inched forward, and then, using his whole body, unscrewed the cap. Immediately, he pinched his nose- So this was what made it smell so bad here! Still, he had a mission from the mayor. Slowly, he tipped the jar over so the golem could escape. Qi Rong eyed the kitchen hungrily, then stuck his long tongue out, snapping up several dozen flies. He lent a parting smile to his savior, then hopped off into the night.

“Okay, he’s free. Is there anything else you want?”

“Good, good, Pei Su. That’s it for now; all you have to do it wait. You will be rewarded handsomely.”

“Yeah, um…” Pei Su dragged a hand through his hair. “Ban Yue… She wasn’t looking too good at the feast- is she gonna be okay?”

A low chuckle. “Why should you care about her, Pei Su? Don’t be a bad apple now- She’s wearing the brocade, and you know what that means.”

Pei Su’s eyes bugged out. He dropped the phone and ran off.

On the floor, the lime green head phone twisted and twirled around, mouthing to no one:

“Hello? Hello? What’s going on Pei Su, have you been caught? Hello?!”


	5. Mount Tonglu Cinema's centennial opening

Back in the alley behind the cinema, Xie Lian spotted someone sneaking around and wearing a big black cloak. Turning to Ban Yue and Hua Cheng, he made a shushing motion, then snuck up on the figure and tackled him.

“Ahh! Hey, what was that- Oh, Xie Lian! Good, I knew you’d come!”

Xie Lian blinked. He didn’t know the face behind the cloak, but at the same time it was oddly familiar. He got up and staggered away from the man. “Who are you?”

The man smiled, then put his hood back on. “I’m Mei Nian Qing, the old broom seller.”

“Huh?” Ban Yue replied. “But weren’t you, like, dead or something? What happened to your face?”

Mei Nian Qing waved his hand at her. “Oh, it’s nothing, nothing. I’m a warlock, just like Xie Lian and the mayor. What you saw before was just a simple glamor- movie magic, they call it! Ahaha… But, anyway, you kids come with me; I know a back entrance to this place, and there’s something I need to show you.”

The three of them exchanged wary glances, then nodded, following the broom seller into a side entrance to the movie theater that wasn’t there before. Inside was a cracked wall and an eerie projector.

Mei Nian Qing closed the door behind them and sighed. “It’s time you learned how Bai Wuxiang came to be.” He paced to the back of the room and meticulously placed a needle between the grooves of a record on an old rusty phonograph, then began cranking at a dusty projector.

At that, a black-and-white silent film began flashing on the wall, swing music playing in the background: Five young warlocks--two of whom looked vaguely familiar--laughing and playing in a strange world, followed by the caption ‘Wuyong in its heyday’. Then, one of them over a cauldron, reaching through worlds: ‘He tries to connect the realms’. Now, images of angry faces and war, set to a steadily rising glissando: ‘The mortal realm lashes out’. Next, the same warlock who opened the portal was turning countless citizens of Wuyong, including three of his friends, into formless ghosts to fight back against the mortal realm. But, at the music’s crescendo, those three friends, instead of attacking the mortal realm, rebounded and attached themselves to the warlock, who then had to put on a smiling-crying mask to cover up the curse that marred his face. The caption now read: ‘The creation of Bai Wuxiang’. Then, a barren battlefield and new schisms torn between worlds, trapping Bai Wuxiang away into the void: ‘A truce’. And, lastly, a picture of several refugees from both Wuyong and the mortal realm, gathering together: ‘The founding of Halloweentown’.

Ban Yue yawned, and Mei Nian Qing sighed mournfully, stopping the music from the phonograph. “Ah, kids these days… Can’t pay attention to anything that isn’t a yapping cartoon, huh?”

Xie Lian frowned. “So that’s how it happened. But Mei Nian Qing, how do you know all this?”

Mei Nian Qing smiled grimly. “I was one of his friends, the only one he didn’t turn into a ghost to curse people with human face disease.”

“Okay… And so, is Bai Wuxiang back?”

Mei Nian Qing lowered his head. “The truth is, he never left…”

Xie Lian widened his eyes. “What do you mean by that??”

However, at that very moment, Mei Nian Qing twitched, suddenly at the alert. “Quick, you guys had better leave- Run, run! He’s coming!”

Hua Cheng grabbed Xie Lian’s hand, and Xie Lian grabbed Ban Yue’s hand, and they made a break for it, out the nearest door. Once out in the labyrinthine hallway, they could hear distant moans and yelps:

“Help, help!”  
“Ahhhh, the plague, the plague!!”  
“No no stay away AHHHH!!”

The trio passed by a few people stricken by the disease, and Xie Lian scrambled to do the counter-spell, but there were so many- in addition to the current citizens of Halloweentown, there were also plenty of people from other worlds who had similarly been sucked into the Mount Tonglu Cinema during its centennial opening day.

They rushed around like headless chickens, hardly different from the other citizens, until they heard familiar shouts from one of the rooms. Xie Lian’s ears perked up.

“That’s Feng Xin and Mu Qing! We’d better go help them!”

Hua Cheng looked in alarm toward the ogre’s shouts. “Wait, wait, gege, we don’t want to be too reckless, do we? Hang on, I think-”

But it was too late. Xie Lian had already opened a door to an adjoining room.

“You idiot, how could you let him get so close to Xie Lian?? Obviously he’s obsessed with him!!”

“Dumbass, you think I had anything to do with this???”

Xie Lian burst in, accosting his old friends. “You guys, what are you talking about?” And then, before Hua Cheng could find the control panel and unplug the projector, Xie Lian looked up:

Playing in this room of the theater was what looked like a lofi home movie created by someone with a lot of time on their hands. On the screen, two sock puppets--one white, with two googly eyes and black string hair tied in a bun, the other red, with one googly eye, an eyepatch, and black string hair loose but for a single braidlet on the side--seemed to be playing out a star-crossed romance. The voice narrating the scene was unmistakably Hua Cheng’s.

Bouncing excitedly, the white sock puppet said, “Oh, San Lang, I’m so glad you’re alive after all these years!”

Hanging its head, the red sock puppet replied, “But gege, I’m not really alive… And how could you love a ghost like me?”

Bouncing closer to the red puppet, the white puppet answered, “It doesn’t matter to me if you’re a ghost, San Lang! I’ll always love you, just the way you are!”

The red puppet raised its head. “You mean it?”

“Yeah!” At that, the socks nuzzled their foreheads together.

Xie Lian, the real Xie Lian, not the sock, turned toward Hua Cheng with wide eyes. “San… Lang…?”

But Feng Xin and Mu Qing got in his way. “Xie Lian, don’t go any further! Obviously he has an unhealthy obsession!”

Behind the ogre, Hua Cheng slid down the theater wall, curling up into himself, face in hands.

“Guys, guys, calm down…” Xie Lian began, but ultimately it was Ban Yue who cut in, using all her strength to push the ogre aside:

“Shut up you two! Just because you’re sad and mean all the time doesn’t mean everyone’s gotta be!”

Somehow, Ban Yue actually managed to topple the ogre, who fell into the screen just as the ‘mouths’ of the socks were about to meet- and so, as Feng Xin and Mu Qing twisted and tangled around in the screen, the sock puppets' fierce necking projected on them instead. Distracted for a moment by their struggle, Xie Lian noticed something-

-In one of the ogre’s feet was a thorn! Just what they needed!

Xie Lian scrambled over to his friends, beckoning both Ban Yue and Hua Cheng over: “Guys, guys, the last ingredient for the talisman! Here, help me hold them down!”

If there was anything that could pull Hua Cheng from his embarrassed dissociation, it was a chance to humiliate that ogre that had always bullied him back in the day. He hurried over. Once Feng Xin and Mu Qing were secure, complaining and wailing in protest, Xie Lian tried to calm them:

“Don’t worry, this’ll only hurt for a second.” At that, he pulled out the thorn, then pulled a clean sock out from Ruoye to cover it up. “Okay, is that better?” Xie Lian motioned for Hua Cheng and Ban Yue to let up their hold, allowing Feng Xin and Mu Qing to get up, both heads squinting at the projector’s light. Hua Cheng sprung into action then, pulling the plug on the projector before the sock puppets could do anything more scandalous than kissing.

Both heads of the ogre looked at one another, then at Xie Lian. At last, Mu Qing spoke up, scratching his head. “It’s… better. T-t-thanks.”

Feng Xin then cut in, “See, was that so hard to say? I can’t believe you kept that thing in on ceremony for all that time!”

Mu Qing snapped back, “As if you did anything about it yourself!!”

Xie Lian took a deep breath, forehead in his hand. “Alright guys, it’s out… Why don’t you just… find a way out of this movie theater, okay? And stop bullying San Lang!”

Both of the ogre’s heads scowled, but ultimately complied, leaving the room. Still a bit numb from embarrassment, Hua Cheng shuffled back over, hanging his head.

“I’m sorry gege, I was in the wro-” But he couldn’t finish that statement, as Xie Lian glomped onto him, wrapping his arms tight around the demon and mumbling:

“San Lang, San Lang, my San Lang…” He looked up toward Hua Cheng’s face. “I, I really am so glad you’re alive, even as a ghost. I’m so glad to have you again.”

Hua Cheng’s arms now squeezed around Xie Lian in turn. “Gege… You really will be the death of me…”

Next to them, Ban Yue cleared her throat. “Well, technically, you’re already dead…”

Remembering that there was a child in the room, the two men parted, smiling fondly at each other. Not discouraged, Ban Yue continued, “Wow, Granduncle Hua, this is so cool! That halfling kid you saved is a demon now! And he’s hot!”

“Young lady!”

Ban Yue shrugged. “What? I’m just calling ‘em like I see ‘em.”

Exhaling, Xie Lian shook his head, then looked back up at Hua Cheng, changing the subject with a cough: “Oh, San Lang, we have all the ingredients for the talisman now, let’s put them together!”

Hua Cheng nodded, then sat down at one of the seats and unscrewed the talisman, propping it between his knees. “I’ve already put in the scales.”

“Great, now the pearls.” At that, both Xie Lian and Hua Cheng extracted the pearls from their respective ear and braid and inserted them into the hollow neck of the talisman’s handle. “Aaand, the thorn…” Xie Lian dropped it in. Hua Cheng screwed the spherical head back onto the handle, then gave it to Xie Lian.

“It’ll require a witch or warlock to work the spell. Now we just need to find a way to get Bai Wuxiang into the right portal!”

“Right! Okay, let’s go!”

The three ran out of that room and back into the chaos, weaving in and out between panicking villagers. But, after only a few seconds, Xie Lian came to a horrifying realization-

-They had lost Ban Yue!

He whipped his head around, only to find a crumpled figure on the floor. Xie Lian watched in horror as that brat Pei Su got to her first, then had the gall to take off her shawl and bunch it up under his arm! Xie Lian bounded back against the stream to accost the boy, but he had already run off. Scoffing, Xie Lian decided he’d wait until this was over to have a word with Pei Ming about boundaries and stealing. Now, it was more important to check Ban Yue’s pulse-

_-Steady, thank Halloweentown official’s blessing_, Xie Lian thought. He helped the shivering girl up.

“Ban Yue, what happened?”

Ban Yue caught up her breath. “I, I, that shawl! I just realized… All night I’ve been feeling little pinpricks in my skin, but I thought it was just because the material was scratchy. But I didn’t want to be ungrateful…”

“Ling Wen,” Hua Cheng said. “That’s how she gets her strawberry skirt so red. She steals people’s blood with her sewing.”

Xie Lian gaped open-mouthed. “Ling Wen… But she’s…”

“Jun Wu’s secretary,” Hua Cheng answered. “Gege, remember what Mei Nian Qing was about to say…”

A growling, terrible voice emanated from behind them. “What was Mei Nian Qing about to say, indeed?!”

It was Bai Wuxiang! Xie Lian hid the talisman away. Thinking quick, Hua Cheng sicced a wriggling E-Ming on the other demon, then grabbed up both of the others and made a break for it.

“This way!!” he shouted. They sprinted through the halls, nearly slipping on the pile of frogs that was Qi Rong- Across from that golem both Lang Ying and Lang Qian Qiu embraced triumphantly, the latter now cleared of human face disease. But the trio didn’t take the time to congratulate them, for Bai Wuxiang was hot on their tail, laughing maniacally all the while.

“HAHAHAHAHAHHA! YOU WON’T ESCAPE ME, NOT THIS TIME XIE LIAN!!!”

“Run!!!” The four of them then sprinted down through a relatively empty hallway, but got easily separated, each of them running in and out of doors-

Xie Lian nearly slipped on Qi Rong’s ribbit-ing conglomerate form, but jumped over it and kicked the frogs back to wallop Bai Wuxiang in the face before slamming a door behind him, where he found Hua Cheng and picked him up; Ban Yue and Pei Su ran into the hallway from opposite doors and slammed into each other, then ran in the opposite direction, back through the doors from which they came; Ling Wen sauntered through to pick up the various pieces of Qi Rong, only for Xie Lian-carrying-Hua Cheng to crash into the both of them, causing all four to scatter; Ban Yue carefully creaked a door open, only to see Xie Lian running from one door to another, carrying Bai Wuxiang!

“Granduncle Hua, you’re carrying the wrong demon!” she shouted, before ducking back behind the door.

Taken aback by his mistake, Xie Lian scrambled for a moment as Bai Wuxiang laughed, then drop-kicked the demon away and ran back where he came. He kept running around for a while, looking desperately for Hua Cheng-

-That is, until he remembered the red string on his finger. Xie Lian followed the invisible connection, which zigzagged chaotically through the halls until he finally backtracked all the way and came upon Hua Cheng. Finding one another again, they embraced tightly.

“San Lang, let’s not separate again! Now, where’s Ban Yue?”

As though on cue, Ban Yue screamed from behind the door. Keeping hold of Hua Cheng’s hand, Xie Lian burst back through the threshold, seeing Ling Wen cornering her. Xie Lian shouted:

“Ban Yue, remember the self-defense tricks I taught you! Go for the ankles!”

Perking her head up, Ban Yue set her brow, then nodded with determination, did a fake-out, and tripped Ling Wen. Making a break for it, the three were now near the end of the corridor, where a great big door opened a hair. Mei Nian Qing beckoned them:

“You guys, here! This way!”

Behind them, Bai Wuxiang cackled again, and they all ran forward through the door. Flying up from where he stood, Bai Wuxiang pursued them, landing on a platform in front of a giant swirling movie screen portal, static and thunder crackling through the void.

“Mei Nian Qing, you’ve betrayed me again, but no one will escape now! You all will pay for what you did to Wuyong!!” At that, Bai Wuxiang ripped off his mask, revealing that he was in fact the mayor, Jun Wu, with three faces embedded on his face!

Hua Cheng whispered to Xie Lian, “Gege, that’s what I was about to tell you…”

But, before the pair could take any action, Ling Wen also burst through the double doors and threw a series of pins at them, effectively gluing them to the wall and sapping their strength! Only Ban Yue had managed to dodge free, and Xie Lian handed off the talisman to her.

“It’s up to you, Ban Yue!”

But Jun Wu just kept laughing. “What, you think a little, just-barely-initiated witch can defeat me?! ME??!! HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!” At that, he raised his hands in a clawing motion in Ban Yue’s direction, trying to rip the talisman from her arms.

“Hey, don’t you dare touch her!!” The shout came from the doors- It was Pei Su! He leapt into action, pinning Ling Wen down with her own shawl. “Have a taste of your own medicine, see how it feels!!”

Ling Wen struggled under the cloth, momentarily distracting Jun Wu. In that moment, Ban Yue reached into Ruoye and grabbed a balled-up sock, then chucked it at the evil warlock.

“YEAH, PUT A SOCK IN IT, OLD MAN!!” Ban Yue said these words with such passion, they actually had a magical effect: the stinky sock shot straight into Jun Wu’s mouth, sticking there and gagging him. Smiling up to Pei Su, Ban Yue lifted her hand in a high-fiving motion, only for Pei Su to shrink back. Ban Yue giggled, lowering her hand.

“Haha, you really don’t know all that much about the mortal realm, do you, Pei Su? You’re supposed to slap the hand!”

Pei Su scrunched his brows, then grabbed Ban Yue’s shoulders. “Ban Yue, do you know the sealing spell?”

She momentarily shrunk back, then nodded with determination. “I don’t know the words, but that doesn’t matter! All I have to do is want it, right?”

Pei Su nodded vigorously, then dropped his hands. “Right! A-and… I’ve also heard… a true love’s kiss can help power spells…” He coughed. “Or… At least I’ve heard…”

Ling Wen chuckled from under the shawl. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree indeed…”

Ignoring her, Ban Yue responded enthusiastically, “That’s great!”

“Really?” Pei Su looked momentarily hopeful, only for Ban Yue to double around, toward Xie Lian and Hua Cheng, the latter of whom had already dissolved into butterflies and re-formed facing the warlock.

“C’mon, you guys! You heard him!” Ban Yue shouted. Then, she turned back to the still-struggling Jun Wu, and pointed the talisman firmly at him.

Pressed up against Xie Lian, Hua Cheng smiled sheepishly, lifting the other man’s chin. “Well, gege, do you-”

Before he could finish his question, Xie Lian already leaned forward, kissing the demon firmly.

Mostly trying to block out the moaning wet sounds coming from behind her, Ban Yue channeled the energy into the base of the talisman torch, then wanted with all her might: to send Jun Wu into the portal, and seal him away forever!

Mingling white and red light shot out from the orb at the end of the talisman, smacking against Jun Wu, who let out a muffled scream as he was slowly pushed into the swirling void behind him. The sock popped out of his mouth as he passed through the movie screen.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!” he howled.

“Body in the abyss, but heart in paradise!!!” Ban Yue shouted with a flourish- even though it was technically the counter spell to human face disease, she felt it ought to also apply here, for dramatic effect at the very least. And, indeed, it worked! A glassy seal appeared over the screen, trapping the raging Jun Wu in!

Exhaling, Ban Yue lowered the talisman. However, the kissing sounds from behind her didn’t stop.

She coughed. “Ummm… You guys… can stop now. Ahem. We won!”

At last, Xie Lian and Hua Cheng ceased their necking, and looked to the movie screen in a daze. Beside them, Pei Su mumbled, “Wow, so that was true love’s kiss, huh?”

Xie Lian covered his face in embarrassment, while Hua Cheng pecked little kisses all over his face and unpinned him from the wall. “Don’t worry, gege. It’s all over now. You and Ban Yue can stay with me in Paradise Manor."

"Really?!" Ban Yue gasped. She turned to Pei Su. "Did you hear tha- Wait, what?!"

Pei Su had been covering his face, but when he lowered his arms, they revealed not a human head, but a green apple with a face on it.

"Pei Su, what happened??"

Grimacing in embarrassment, Pei Su lowered his head and mumbled out, "This is my true form, Ban Yue. Jun Wu agreed to put a glamor on me and my dad, but now that he's banished to the void, all his spells are undone. I'm an apple head. Granny Smith."

Across the room, Ling Wen finally freed herself from the brocade. "Heh. And Ol' Pei's a Red Delicious."

Another voice from under the chairs answered, "Red Delicious, huh? No wonder he wanted to put on a glamor…"

Ban Yue padded over to that voice. "Mei Nian Qing, is that you? You know it's safe to come out now, right?"

Slowly, the broom seller clambered out from his hiding place and brushed himself off.

"Haha, you're a real scaredy cat, huh?"

Mei Nian Qing just sniffed. "Little girl, do you think I would have survived all these millennia without being a coward?"

Ban Yue went bug-eyed. "MILLENNIA???" She turned back to Xie Lian. "Granduncle Hua, how old are you again??"

This time, Hua Cheng shushed her. "Gege is the perfect age for me, and that's all that matters." He smiled, swaying his and Xie Lian's still embracing forms.

"Pfft…" Ling Wen said.

Ban Yue whipped around, stomping up to Ling Wen. "And you! Don’t you know it's mean to suck someone’s blood without asking?!"

Ling Wen cocked her head.

Ban Yue frowned. "Well, at least, do you promise not to do anything bad now that Jun Wu is banished?"

Ling Wen sniffed. "Oh of course. I'm not really evil; Jun Wu just put a spell on me, that's all."

Ban Yue frowned at her only a second more, then turned around. "Fine. Then I guess you can go!"

The six of them made for the door, then, and helped shepherd all the people in the movie theater to their respective realms. When it was all over and they were finally able to leave the theater, however, Mei Nian Qing hesitated.

Xie Lian looked back. "Aren't you coming with us?"

Smiling bitterly, Mei Nian Qing replied, "No… I'm going to stay and keep guard over him. Guess the town will need a new broom seller though…"

Pei Su's ears perked up- or, at least, his head did, seeing as apples don't have ears. "I could do it!" he piped in. "After all, I know all the recent mortal trends."

Mei Nian Qing sniffed in amusement. "Give it a couple centuries, then you'll know how I'll feel about all these so-called ‘mortal trends’. Sure kid, you can take over the shop."

Pei Su pumped his fist, then raised a hand up to Ban Yue. "High five?"

Beaming, Ban Yue received the high-five enthusiastically, then turned to Mei Nian Qing. “So I guess this is goodbye, huh?”

Waving a hand, Mei Nian Qing answered, “Ahh no, now that he's sealed away, the theater's always open if you want to visit! So, if anyone ever wants to see more of Hua Cheng’s sock puppet shows, I’d gladly host a screening…”

“Sock puppet shows? Is that what was going on all this time?” The entire troupe turned toward Shi Qing Xuan, who was only now approaching the theater, He Xuan in tow. “Well, I’m glad I didn’t miss anything important then.” She flipped her hair, revealing two neat red holes in her neck. “Haha, guess who finally got bitten tonight!”

Ban Yue gasped. “Does this mean you’re a vampire now too??” Still a bit light-headed from her own blood loss, she kept her distance.

“Oh no no no darling, I’d have to drink vampire’s blood to become one myself. It’s Buffy rules.”

Ban Yue scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. “Buffy?”

“Oh you poor girl.” Shi Qing Xuan then turned to Xie Lian. “Are you to say this little girl has no access to anything beyond basic cable?”

Both Xie Lian and Ban Yue shot the werewolf blank looks. Behind her, He Xuan rolled her eyes.

Finally, Ban Yue answered, “Uhhh, Ms. Shi Qing Xuan, I’m a homeless orphan. Granduncle Hua and I were living on the streets; we didn’t even have basic cable.”

Shi Qing Xuan gasped, thworping her fan open and waving it at herself. “You poor thing!”

Hua Cheng cut in, squeezing Xie Lian’s hand. “Not anymore.”

Xie Lian looked back up at the demon, leaning into his wiry form. “That’s right. We all have a home now.”

.

And so it was, that some days later, Ban Yue squished on a couple big couches in Hua Cheng’s newly-cleaned living room with Pei Su, Shi Qing Xuan, He Xuan, Feng Xin, and Mu Qing. There, they drank hot apple cider, watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and chatted.

“Wait, so, Pei Su, it’s not at all weird for me to be drinking apple cider in front of you, is it?”

“No, don’t worry about it. It’s just like He Xuan drinking blood, right?”

“Oh, cool,” Ban Yue replied. “Because I really like hot apple cider!”

“Shush, you two! Cordelia’s talking!” Shi Qing Xuan leaned over to He Xuan, smiling. “Cordelia’s my favorite,” he added.

“I know,” He Xuan replied humorlessly.

Behind the couch, Xie Lian and Hua Cheng sat plopped on the floor, folding socks- After they returned and gotten some rest, Xie Lian had overturned Ruoye, letting down a veritable mountain of socks from the handbag. Hua Cheng watched it all, raising an eyebrow and folding his arms. E-Ming leapt into the pile excitedly, jumping and skittering around.

Xie Lian met his skeptical gaze. “What? I wanted to make sure Ban Yue’s feet wouldn’t get cold!”

Smiling, Hua Cheng shook his head and squeezed his hand. “It’s no issue, gege. I can’t wait to find all the matches with you.”

They pair ended up having to do several loads of laundry before they got to work on their soft mountain. Nevertheless, when Xie Lian thought back on it, he couldn’t remember a time when he was quite so happy as now, in a room with his friends, curled up in his San Lang and rummaging through their fort of lost things by the fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AWWWW YISS SOCK FOLDING (forreal, the sock-folding concept was really what motivated everything; in that scene from Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge when Grandma Aggie and Gort turn gray and start folding socks together, maybe I'm just old, but I look at that now and I'm like, _Now that's true love_)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, I'm [beneaththebrim](https://beneaththebrim.tumblr.com/) on tumblr!


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